INSIGHTS
February 22, 2021

I’ll take “Healthcare AI Spinout” for $200

The Watson Health hype cycle may soon come to a close for IBM. Executives are exploring a sale of the six-year-old business that, despite a handful of acquisitions (Merge Healthcare and Truven), never quite hit its stride. The logic of a successful platform is that it attracts large scale networks of users with its simplicity and that its whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Amidst digital health’s raging platform wars, this potential exit could be seen as a cautionary tale that bundling a wide range of assets around one tech stack is not the same as platform building.

We’re looking for an analyst to join our team at Rock Health Consulting. If you’re excited about digital health and having an outsized impact within a growing team, check out the job description and apply!

Headlines

Life Expectancy Drops Sharply In U.S. As COVID Takes Its Toll
The life expectancy gap between Black and white Americans now at widest in 20 years The New York Times | (Tweet)

HHS Lifts HIPAA Penalties In Texas Due To Winter Storm
Virtual care companies including Teladoc and K Health are offering free services to Texans Becker’s Health IT | (Tweet)

Owlet Smart Baby Monitor To Go Public In A SPAC Deal
A big new unicorn with little shoes (okay, socks) to fill HIT Consultant | (Tweet)

AHIP, Tech Companies Create New Healthcare AI Standard
The working group aims to advance trust in AI solutions in healthcare Fierce Healthcare | (Tweet)

AstraZeneca Taps AliveCor For Kidney Focused Collaboration
The companies will develop non-invasive potassium monitoring solutions MobiHealthNews | (Tweet)

With New Rochester Office, Google Solidifies Ties With Mayo Clinic
Nearby offices will support their cloud-computing focused collaboration Fierce BioTech | (Tweet)

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